In Which Scorpius Malfoy Shames the Family Name
by ojuzu
Summary: And Nobody Really Cares (Least Of All Him).


"Scorpius," Draco says, "You know that you are my son, and I will love you no matter what."

"Yes, father," Scorpius says, sensing a catch here.

"But if you turn out to be a Gryffindor, I will disown you. I refuse to deal with Potter being smug at me."

Scorpius is pretty sure Mr and Mrs Potter won't really care either way, but has the sense not to mention it. Anyway, he's not really the Gryffindor type.

* * *

When Scorpius was young—well, younger—his father used to lecture him on Family Duty and Responsibility To One's Ancestors and Our Good Name, interspersed with mutterings about Those Damned Weasel-Potter-Grangers, They Get All The Luck. Scorpius nodded politely and privately wondered what exactly a Weasel-Potter-Granger was, and if you could find them in pet shops. Auntie Hermione would know.

Once his mother found out about these lectures, she had a Quiet Word (actually several very loud ones, involving phrases like "modern world" and "our friends") with his father, and then sat Scorpius down in their favorite fluffy couch and told him about his father "when he was your age", and the war-that-wasn't-really-a-war, and how his father's family had been on the wrong side. "He thinks it's his job to drag the Malfoy name out of the mud and restore it to the forefront of the aristocracy where it belongs," she told him. "And I understand why. But Scorpius, dear, names are only as valuable as the people who hold them. Live happily and well, and that will be more than enough."

His mother was always better at speeches than his father.

* * *

"Your son is a _Hufflepuff_," Harry says, somewhere between laughter and total disbelief. "_Your_ son."

"Shut up," Draco grumbles, trying to hide his face behind his wineglass and not really succeeding.

"Your _son_ is a _Hufflepuff_. That's amazing."

"Shut up."

"It gets funnier every time I say it."

"Well, _I_ think it's nice," Ginny tells them. "Perhaps he'll be a good influence on you total slackers."

* * *

Scorpius, my beloved son,

How the fuck the hell for the love of God on earth did you manage to get into Hufflepuff?

Draco Malfoy, Lord Malfoy of Wiltshire

* * *

Father,

I'm a people person.

Scorpius Malfoy

* * *

People are always very surprised to find that Scorpius thinks of himself as social. "But you're so quiet!" they say.

Yes, he is quiet. This is obvious. Why do people always need to restate things they already know?

When he is older, he decides it must be compensation. Not everyone gets to be surrounded by other people's conversation the way he is. (People are surprised by that, too. Malfoy Manor is large and stately and Scorpius supposes he and his parents and all their regular guests _could_ live quite far away from each other, but it takes him years to figure out why anyone would want to.)

* * *

Dear Mother,

I hope you are doing well. I'm told Paris is lovely this time of year; how is your vacation going?

I'm having lots of fun at Hogwarts so far (moving staircases are the _best_, even if I keep being late to class) but Father seems extremely shocked by my Sorting. Does he have some history with Hufflepuff House?

Scorpius Malfoy

* * *

My darling Scorpius,

I am quite well. The gardens here are especially beautiful in autumn, and it is a pleasure beyond compare to visit my great-aunt's portrait in the Louvre on a rainy afternoon.

I must admit, out of all the wonders Hogwarts has to offer, I miss the moving stairways the least! I failed to get the hang of them until my seventh year. With the amount of time you spend climbing all over the manor, however, I can certainly see why they would appeal to you! Here's a tip for getting to class on time: floors four upwards shift in three patterns of differing length, in increments of thirty degrees. Floors four downwards have one pattern only, five days in length, and they move more slowly. I've attached a diagram, based on the one I made for myself in sixth year.

Your father spent most of his school years glaring at Harry Potter and worrying over the Dark Lord. He was never very social, for a Slytherin, and stereotypes about Hufflepuff were particularly prevalent at the time. He believes I was in Ravenclaw, and it is still too funny at times to disillusion him.

Your loving mother, Astoria Greengrass

P.S. Don't tell him about the monthly parties. You know he gets grumpy when people don't invite him to things.

* * *

When Scorpius was very young indeed, Auntie Hermione came to live at their house for a while. He remembers it very well, because it was the first time he ever saw his father being what his mother calls 'over-dramatic' and what Auntie Ginny calls 'being a spoiled brat'. Father went on and on about politics and bloodlines and government stuff Scorpius still doesn't really understand, for ages and ages and ages, until Auntie Hermione put her hand over his mouth and said—rather kindly—"Draco. Shut up."

Later she gave Scorpius a big book called "Hogwarts, A History" full of diagrams and little margin notes in her own handwriting, and she keeps on giving him big interesting books twice a year (birthday and Christmas) but he still thinks her part in teaching him how to properly deal with his father is the best present she's ever given him.

* * *

Scorpius,

James Potter's birthday is coming up. Make sure to give him a ridiculously extravagant yet ultimately useless present, so he and his father can feel terrible about not giving you anything for your birthday last month.

[several small doodles of James and Harry looking ridiculously contrite, while Draco and Scorpius look on with magnanimous grace]

Your loving father, Draco Malfoy

He shows this letter to Takeshi, his dorm-mate, who laughs for three minutes straight and insists on showing it to his sister Hana later, and maybe her friend Al as well. "But maybe I shouldn't. I guess your dad doesn't like the Potters much?"

"No, he does really," Scorpius tells him. "He's just weird about it. My mother and aunts think it's hilarious."

"Well, they're right," Takeshi says, still grinning.

Scorpius smiles—remembering his father and Those Damned Weasel-Potter-Grangers—and decides he rather likes Takeshi. "...Yeah."

* * *

Scorpius ends up buying James a big hard-copy Spiderman book, the adventures of Miles Morales detailed in glossy colour. It's just this side of expensive, and it's ridiculously thoughtful. (James is a big DC fan, Merlin knows why, but Scorpius is certain no one can fail to like Miles Morales.)

James starts reading it and refuses to stop, Scorpius' father sends him a letter composed entirely of doodles and exclamation points, and Takeshi helpfully reminds him that hey, his birthday is coming up next month, and they've just started releasing a twentieth-anniversary collector's edition of One Piece.

"Okay," Scorpius says, feeling magnanimous. "But you have to come to my dad's Christmas party over break, alright? Aunt Hermione and her minions are in Australia this year, so I need some more people on my side to ambush Dad and his government people with snowballs."

"I think I can do that," Takeshi says, and doodles a fair imitation of Scorpius' father's style of little drawings [stick-figures of Takeshi and Scorpius dropping snowballs on the entire Wizengamot] on his History of Magic notes.

* * *

End Notes: This story is from a couple years ago, but since I was already posting something to FFN today I thought I might as well. Come to think of it, I'd quite like to write more about these versions of the characters; they've gone and grown on me.

(A quick explanation for this characterization of the older characters: The people who did most of the actual fighting, in Harry's year and a few above/below, had a very hard time after the war. To a lot of them, that meant feeling very disconnected from the rest of the wizarding world—so they ended up getting closer and closer to each other, and it scarcely mattered whether they actually _liked_ each other at the start, because eventually they all had to or go mad.)


End file.
